Boiler progress update from Riley's Engineering

CSPL have issued Riley’s with authority to start work in the deconstruction of 2807 boiler and work started straight away!!

The old smoke box tube plate was removed, this involved cutting around where the longitudinal stays were secured.

To remove the tube plate the bottom of the old front barrel section had to be cut.

The next picture shows the team at Riley’s working on the front barrel section in readiness for its removal and replacement.

The ends of the longitudinal stays and the remains of the tube plate can be seen inside the front barrel section.

The Front boiler barrel section removed

Looking back into what remains of the boiler barrel, the bits of cloth are covering the end of the Longitudinal stays

Preparing the back head!

In order to enable the section below the Firehole door to be removed, these are the stays inside the firebox that need careful removal first

Keep coming back to the blog to see further updates from Rileys as well as updated from the CSPL team once HGO restarts at our based on the GWSR

Boiler Overhaul Agreement: Cotswold Steam Preservation Limited (CSPL) in partnership with Ian Riley’s Engineering

CSPL are pleased to announce that after a particularly challenging period for everyone due to COVID lockdowns, via Zoom meetings and many emails, the scope of work to overhaul the Boiler of 2807 has been agreed with Ian Riley’s Engineering Ltd (Riley’s)

This is a huge milestone and will now allow CSPL and Riley’s to move forward and focus on the specific work required to complete the boiler overhaul.

The high-level scope of work has been defined as follows:

·         Replace the front boiler barrel section and smoke box tube plate for new

·         Replace the back head from just below the fire hole door down to the foundation ring

·         Repairs to the foundation ring

·         Work to replace sections of the smoke box and smoke box door plate

·         Complete set of new tubes

·         Various other items to facilitate the above

Brian Gamlin the CSPL Chairman commented:

“ With not being able to visit Ian and his team the process has taken longer than expected, this has been frustrating for all. We are incredibly pleased to have got to this point and reaffirm that we made the correct decision to award this work to Riley’s. My thanks go to Ian, Greg, and Andy from Riley’s and to Gilbert Kitchen the CME for CSPL for their hard work so far”

Comments from The Team at Riley’s:

“Riley's are delighted that CSPL chose to trust us with the boiler work for 2807. The Pandemic has meant that no face-to-face meetings around the boiler have been possible. But CSPL and Riley's have worked together to overcome this, and we are very pleased to have agreed a scope of works and to have the positive support of CSPL that will enable us to start work immediately.”

As we release this information CSPL are planning to restart the HGO on the 31^st March and will work closely with the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway (GWSR) over the coming months to get back to an “almost” normal pattern of working. Before lock down the major strip down of the main loco frames was completed. We still have a few little things to do but we can now focus on, and see, the major milestone of putting things back together. We have a long way to go and have been impacted by COVID but the CSPL team are an amazing group of volunteers that will work extremely hard to get 2807 back into steam as soon as possible.

The Board and Directors of Cotswold Steam Preservation Limited. (CSPL)

Posted by Brian Gamlin (Chairman)

Planning the HGO restart!

Just a quick update from CSPL to say that with the HMG lockdown exit plan we are looking to restart the HGO on the 31st March. The HGO team are starting to organise working parties (rule of 6) from the 31st March and we will work with the GWSR as things move forward over the next few months.

Please keep watching for updates about the wheels sets, currently at South Devon Railway for tyre and journal re-profiling. Also for a pending announcement re the boiler work to be carried out at Ian Riley's Engineering.

Continue to stay safe and think positive about 2021 and beyond

Lets get 2807 back looking like this!!

2807 at the North Yorkshire Moors in September 2014

 

HGO of 2807 is on hold due to the current issues the country is facing.

To all supporters and blog watchers

Inline the latest national lockdown regulations and to support the requirements of the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway (GWSR) to protect all volunteers, Cotswold Steam Preservation Limited have implemented a temporary stop to the current HGO activities.

We are in regular contact with the GSWR Board and Operational Management team and we will review over the comings weeks when work can restart.

To cheer us all up and picture of 2807 in happier times

The CSPL Board and HGO Team

Please stay safe and protect each other

No wheels on our Loco, it’s not rolling along!!

October, November, and December have been a busy period to remove the pony truck and then wheelsets, this blog update will take you through this process.

Health and safety are a key issue so all care is taken with the current COVID rules and guidelines as well as the CSPL and GWSR rules for the handling of heavy items and ensuring the loco is safe when carrying out such work.

We are lucky enough to have heavy lifting gear that allows us to lift the complete frames of the loco off its wheels sets. This kit also allows us to remove many items with the loco safely “jacked up” and secure to anyone work in or around the frames

Firstly, the connecting rods need to be removed, something that has been done many times before but always throws up a challenge or two!

Inside the frames work to remove all the springs and axel under keeps 

Here you can see one of the CSPL team helping remove the springs

Once all the springs and underkeeps were removed the lift could take place. This was carried out with CSPL and GWSR support teams slow lifting the loco frames thus freeing up the wheelsets and axel boxes.

In the next picture you will see an old brake block hanging from the axel box to stop it flipping over and falling off the wheel set axel. The two axel boxes per wheel set are lifted and shown in later photos

The loco frames now stand above the wheels sets. This is a significant milestone in the HGO and shows the amazing work being carried out by our support team at the GWSR

After the lift it’s the move, here the CSPL team start moving the 4 wheel sets out from under the frames.

Then the lift of the axel boxes

The next picture shows all four wheels sets in front of the frames of 2807 with all the axel boxes removed

In early December the wheelsets were dispatched from the GWSR Toddington to the South Devon Railway. Here they will be re-profiled and returned where they, along with the refurbished axel boxes will be returned to the frames.

Some of the final work to be completed before Christmas was to give the loco frames a good steam clean. It also required plenty of hand cleaning with scrapers and brushes

Its has been a great end of 2020 in what has been a very challenging year. A big thank you goes to the CSPL HGO working parties on a Wednesday and Saturdays, The GWSR Steam Department and Management, The GWSR Board, and the CSPL Board/HGO Planning Team. I, as the Chairman, have had to observe from afar due to COVID travel restrictions and part of a support bubble for family.

Please keep coming back to the Blog as we will keep posting updates.

Deconstruction and a Re-Bore

One of the last actions before Lockdown 1, in March, was the dispatching of the Boiler from GWSR to Ian Riley’s Engineering in Bury, see previous report on the blog submitted by Steve Price. 

Well it arrived safely!

Like many businesses Riley’s had to close during the 1^st Lockdown so work did not start on our boiler until June. The first things were to remove some of the smoke box internals and then the smoke box itself. As well as the boiler overhaul they will also be repairing parts of the smokebox.

The CSPL support team had removed many of the small tubes before the boiler was sent to Riley’s. It was left to them to remove the remainder of the smaller, and then the flu, tubes as part of the preparation for the Non-destructive testing (NDT) and British Engineering (BEM) inspection.

A further part to be removed was the firebox foundation ring which needs repair work as part of the overhaul. Most of the studs have been removed in readiness for the boiler to be turned on its back and then the foundation ring lift clear for further inspection.

The NDT work and BEM inspection has now been completed (Sept-Oct 2020) and the HGO management team will be meeting with the Riley’s team via a Zoom Meeting to review these reports and finalise the Statement of Work for our boiler. This we hope to complete before the end of November so work can then be planned, and the overhaul of 2807 boiler commence. This will be a massive milestone for our group and marks another stage in the process of 2807 being returned to steam. I will let you know via this blog progress on the work with Riley’s Engineering and the boiler

___________________________________________________________________________

In addition to the Boiler work at Bury, Riley’s have been subcontracted to complete the re-bore of the cylinders at Toddington on the GWSR. In September a member of Riley’s team spent a few days at the GWSR, supported by our team, to re-bore both cylinders.

Following is a selection of pictures with the equipment used and the end result with an internal picture of the RHS cylinder

The final measurements for both the RHS and LHS cylinders, see next pictures, these will now be used to manufacture new piston heads along with replacement piston rods. 

As you will see from this report things are progressing with the overhaul of GW2807. Keep popping by to see further updates and reports on this blog.

And always remember you can make donations via the 2807FLA our registered charity and purchase shares via the 2807 website

Words by Brian Gamlin

Pictures by Roger Molesworth

Work restarts after COVID lockdown 1

 On Saturday the 1^st August CSPL were able to restart work on the Heavy General Overhaul (HGO) of GW2807 after 4 months of inactivity. We would like to thank everyone at the GWSR for the work that has been undertaken to meet the social distancing requirements and safety standards in the strange times of COVID19. We are currently limited with the number of people that can work as a single group on our workdays of Wednesday and Saturdays but the HGO team have revised their plans and working practices to ensure the members of our team are as safe as possible.

Over the next few Blog updates you will see lots of progress since March when the Boiler was removed and taken to Ian Riley’s Engineering in Bury. To that end we will give you news on the progress at Riley’s in another report on the blog in the coming days/weeks.

The process continues to remove, clean, measure/assess, and store, large and small items from the main loco frames and tender. These are cleaned, then assessed, and measured for general wear with notes being taken to understand what has to be done to each item before they are put into store in readiness for going back on the loco in the near future.

Removal of the front piston covers

LHS piston rod and head removed

Pictures of the cleaning team in action and some freshly cleaned and painted piston covers

An idea items removed during the restart period

Valve covers

Piston covers

Piston rods and heads

Running boards

Brakes and brake hangers

Steam heating pipes

Vacuum brake pipes

Lots more have been removed but too many to mention

Our team with the steam cleaner removing the years of muck from the bottom of the running boards and various other items.

It has been great to see the HGO restart and for the team to comeback together in a COVID safe manner. Work will be a little harder and require more planning but CSPL and the HGO working parties have started with great gusto in stripping 2807 down to its many parts so we can then start the work in bringing her back to life in the near future.

Photos by Roger Molesworth

Words by Brian Gamlin

June 2020 Round-Up

This has been a strange year so far. It’s been tragic for anyone directly impacted by the virus. And it’s been frustrating for those of us keen to get back to our pre-COVID life.

At the end of June we’re unable to restart our normal activities on no. 2807. The indications are that it will be at least August before we can get back to work. The railway is restarting operational activities preparing for a re-opening during August. The railway’s priority is reopening, and not locomotive maintenance.

Fortunately for us, we were able to get our boiler to Riley & Son before the lockdown, and they have indicated to us that they are re-starting work in a limited way. The foundation ring has received attention, and the smokebox has been removed from the boiler barrel. So it’s not all doom and gloom. And some of our volunteers have been carrying on with their ‘homework’, working on parts of the locomotive that they took home before lockdown.

Meanwhile there’s still been plenty to do. We still have a company to operate, Cotswold Steam Preservation Ltd (CSPL). CSPL owns no. 2807, which is why it is possible to purchase shares in the locomotive, and a team of volunteers keep the company running.

Much of the work is not dissimilar to any other UK company. We have a chairman (Brian G), a secretary (Gilbert K), and a treasurer (Roger M). The remainder of the board is made up of Geof A, Fred L, Stuart F, John G, Ingo S, and myself. The directors of the company are Brian, Fred, Geof, Gilbert, John, Stuart, and myself.

The board members look after such things as publicity, marketing, engineering, siphon restoration, and internet presence. Other members of the team are David S who is responsible for health and safety, Andy B the “2807 News” editor, Sue S who looks after friends of 2807, and Karen F who looks after the 100 club. So operating a locomotive isn’t just about the engineering side, there’s a commercial side to it as well.

Having said that, many of these people are also directly involved in the maintenance and support of 2807, and there are ten to fifteen additional members of the maintenance/support team. Some are also involved with our charity, “The Freight Locomotive Association”.

Something else that’s been ongoing during the lockdown is boot scraper sales. Some of you will know about our boot scrapers, and they remain as popular as ever. They are available via online sales despite lockdown. To find out more please follow the “Our Shop” link from our web site, www.GWR2807.co.uk, or email Roger M at treasurer.GWR2807@outlook.com.

Keep safe

Steve